Bio

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR on 21 January 1989. A central attacking midfielder or second striker, he is known for his technique, dribbling, vision, passing ability and goalscoring. In his home country of Armenia, he is nicknamed 'Heno', while in Germany, supporters often refer to him as 'Micki' In 2012, he was named as one of the top 100 footballers in the world by The Guardian.

Having joined Pyunik Yerevan's youth academy in 1995, Mkhitaryan worked his way through the system and made his professional debut as a 17 year old in 2006. Over the course of four seasons with the team, he helped the club to win four consecutive Armenian Premier League titles, as well as the 2009 edition of the Armenian Cup. As a result of his impressive performances, he caught the attention of Metalurh Donetsk, who signed him in the summer of 2009.

After scoring on his Metalurh Donetsk debut, Mkhitaryan went on to score a total of 14 goals during the 2009-10 season. The following year, at the age of 21, he was named as club captain, making him the youngest footballer to ever captain the club. However, after scoring three goals in his first eight matches during the campaign, he earned a move to the division's reigning champions, Shakhtar Donetsk, who paid a fee of $7.5 million for his services.

It was during his time at Shakhtar that Mkhitaryan truly announced himself on a global stage, helping the club to win Ukrainian Premier League and Ukrainian Cup doubles in 2010–11, 2011–12, and 2012–13. In 2012, he was voted as the Ukrainian Premier League Footballer of the Year, while his goalscoring exploits during the 2012-13 campaign saw him win the Ukrainian Premier League Golden Boot. In the summer of 2013, he signed for Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, with Dortmund and Shakhtar eventually agreeing on a €27.5 million transfer fee. In the process, he became the most expensive signing in the club's history.

At international level, Mkhitaryan made his debut for Armenia in January 2007 and has since emerged as one of the country's most important players. In 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013, he was named as the Armenian Footballer of the Year.